Dok.cetera moves into the second half of 2021 with five new documentary recommendations for May. This month, we look at two winners from Copenhagen’s CPH:DOX and Toronto’s Hot Docs. We also look at two films currently, or imminently, streaming that are worth your time. Finally, May’s hidden gem comes in the form of a retrospective, three films from Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini.

Next month, we will be back with a special focus on Bucharest’s One World Romania, postponed from its original May dates to June 11-20 (physical) / 21-27 (online).

On the Circuit

The Last Shelter (dir. Ousmane Samassekou) – France, Mali, South Africa
Winner of CPH:DOX’ Dox:Award, the Copenhagen festival’s primary competition, The Last Shelter peers into the all too cyclical reality of African migrants en route to (and from) Western Europe. A flagship film of the Generation Africa project, The Last Shelter is a migratory film unlike many others, placing itself on the outskirts of an unforgiving Sahara Desert as migrant dreams and nightmares whisper throughout its crimson dunes.

Outside of Gao, Mali, The House of Migrants serves as a final refuge for those in migratory transit – whether en route through Algeria to the North or on a disappointing journey back from a failed European attempt. Making up its trio of protagonists who reside at the fragile house of respite are Esther and Kady – two teenage girls from Burkina Faso – and Natacha – a 40-something woman who has called the house home for some five years, her story never quite discussed. In their shared reality, the three women find a semblance of family amongst the center’s aqua-tinted walls, often engaging in moments of genuine joy and tenderness. Also, all too frequently for Esther and Kady, this joy turns to disillusionment as their dreams of a future abroad collide with the realities of those who have returned – now emblazoned with the undeniable tenets of deep psychological trauma. The dangers of the Sahara and, as such, the act of migration are plentiful; from dehydration and heatstroke to forced prostitution and smuggler betrayal, but it remains mesmerizing, formidable, and a reminder that, like life, the desert’s volatility can quickly turn a once straightforward journey into a storm of oblivion. The Last Shelter finds its strengths in that left unsaid, where stories connect into an intertwined reality of hope, despair, success, and abject failure. Less concerned with backstory specifics, instead shifting focus onto a staggering collection of dislocated war stories, The Last Shelter is a film of deep melancholy and ominous realities.

The Last Shelter currently screens at DOK.fest München

Ostrov – Lost Island (dir. Svetlana Rodina, Laurent Stoop) – Switzerland
A Visions du Réel world premiere and winner of Hot Docs International Documentary Competition, Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop’s Ostrov – Lost Island is an evocative portrayal of many imperiled (and impoverished) rural Russian communities. As the dilemma of maintaining power over the country’s vast territory has plagued its leadership since tsarist days, in modern times, this has found itself in direct tension with Vladimir Putin’s all-encompassing desire to leverage his cult of personality, perpetuating the idea of an omnipotent, ever knowledgeable, all-powerful strongman, with the realities of failed bureaucracy and a chaotic (if not devastating) transition to capitalism.

Ostrov – Lost Island bases itself on the barren, eponymous island in the Caspian Sea. Like many other such places in the country, Ostrov has been left in ruins, with little economic opportunity for its residents and a non-existent support system from its government at both local and national levels. The once-thriving fishing community now finds itself in a cognitive dissonance between relentless utopian propaganda and ever dismantling livelihoods. Its primary source of income has been deemed illegal going on 30 years. Stress, assault, and arrest now combine into an air of perpetual fear for those within its boundaries. The film’s primary protagonist, Ivan and his family, much like the rest of the remaining island inhabitants, veer toward blaming local authorities, highlighting deeply ingrained corruption rather than holding their despotic president accountable. Perhaps a legacy of the country’s traditional stoicism or the sad reality of how relentless messaging can alter and shift personal perspectives with ease, Ivan’s hopes lay in a repetitive cycle of determined letter writing with the Kremlin as the final address. “Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, I believe only in you. That’s why I am addressing you. Please help us,” one starts. But, when its response never comes, followed by another and another, this once cathartic act becomes symbolic of an eternal sense of false hope, starting in Ostrov and expanding across the vast Russian territory.

Streaming

Sisters With Transistors (dir. Lisa Rovner) – UK, France
With the ever-growing popularity of electronic music across the globe (Romania itself holding a prominent place in its modern landscape; the country’s much-respected take on its minimal genre is respected over the world), as like many of the world’s industries, it holds significant gender disparity. The conversation around gender equality in electronic music, from wages to lineup representation, has been one of particular prominence over the past few years; many festivals, nightclubs, and venues pledging to the 50/50 initiative of equally balanced male/female/female-identifying curations. Still, the history of the genre, and its female pioneers, has been an all too untold story. That is, until 2020’s Sisters With Transistors burst onto the festival scene, premiering at South by Southwest before traversing the globe, recently landing at CPH:DOX.

Sisters With Transistors tells the all archival story of electronic music’s female pioneers. The women who embraced the machines of music, transformed how it is created and ingested, liberating the very terms of musical production and theory. Narrated by Laurie Anderson, and featuring the likes of Clara Rockmore, the classically trained Lithuanian theremin virtuoso, to Suzanne Ciani, the “diva of the diode” and the first woman to score a major Hollywood film (1981’s The Incredible Shrinking Woman), and more, Sisters With Transistors goes beyond the historical telling of a simple music documentary. It is an inspiring call to action for those underrepresented in their respective fields and documentation of defiance against all odds. Set against the 20th century’s broader social, political, and cultural contexts, Sisters With Transistors hones in on a particular emancipation struggle and one that does its part in restoring the central role of women in the history of music.

Sisters With Transistors is now available on Vimeo

Mayor (dir. David Osit) – USA
Since 2012, Musa Hadid has been the democratically elected mayor of Ramallah. A practicing Christian in the Palestinian capital (25% of its population identifying as such) – of course, one of the most conflict-prone areas on Earth – he is a popular leader amongst stateless people. In his documentary Mayor, streaming free via Vice on YouTube, US director David Osit provides a surprisingly cinematic fly-on-the-wall view of Hadid’s day-to-day life. With equal parts humor and seriousness, Mayor successfully sets its focus outside the sensational violence and utter degradation of the Israeli occupation, instead shifting into a Wiseman-esque portrait of local governance. That isn’t to say it does not feature its share of molotov cocktail throwing youth or Israel’s ubiquitous militaristic colonizer apparatus. However, these all too frequent sights only find themselves depicted within a legislation and leadership context (addressing sewage leaks when the Israeli’s do not allow for the construction of a dedicated sewage treatment facility, resulting in a blockade and clashes between the military and youth mentioned above, for example).

The film opens at a particularly volatile time for the disputed region when, in December 2017, then US president Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This decision breached numerous international treaties and sparked its own outbreak of violence at the time. Current violence can trace (some) roots to this singular act. As the world watches the recent devastation inflicted upon the Palestinian people, much of its inciting incident originated in the historic city when Israeli police stormed its Al Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan. Throw in ongoing forced evictions further perpetuating Israel’s creeping occupation, and temperatures currently run at astronomically high levels throughout the area. Mayor is a welcome antithesis to this state of constant stress. Never betraying his emotions, yet always understanding the job he must do outside the wider conflict, Hadid is a perfect verité protagonist. He is a man with both a level head and an understanding heart; one who seeks to find humanity outside of despair. In some instances, he succeeds, in others, not so much. Mayor is a film about Middle-Eastern dynamics all too rarely seen, one of a humanistic egalitarianism where heroes are acknowledged as being few and far between when the real work still needs to be done.

Mayor is now available on Youtube

A Hidden Gem

Roberto Minervini: Gonna Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In
Perhaps one of cinema’s most tired genres is the modern American exposé. From narrative to non-fiction, from the largely for-profit grievance industry to the “woke” urban liberal, the seemingly endless barrage of indictments into American contradiction (and conflict) are everywhere. That said, every so often, certain films and filmmakers manage to highlight the complicated dynamics of modern America in new and effective ways, many doing so through poetic lenses of detachment; observational, objective musings on everyday life instead of constructed agenda-pushing pseudo set pieces. Usually, such films (and filmmakers) come from outside the country. Their cultural detachment is key to their lens’ effectiveness (for narrative film, Andrea Arnold’s sublime American Honey comes to mind, as does Chloe Zhao’s The Rider). Italy’s Roberto Minervini is one such filmmaker. Currently residing in the United States, Minervini has been able to visually immerse viewers into the dark side of American life in ways many local filmmakers can only dream of. Now, DAFilms.com presents a retrospective of three mid-2010s Minervini classics.

Minervini’s latest, the multi-award-winning Venice sensation What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?, was a discreet, black and white verité on a New Orleans community struggling during the early days of Donald Trump’s presidency (albeit one which, contrary to popular belief, did not mark as dire – or fast – an ideological change as many imagined. Take it from this American, Trump being but a symptom of much more profound, strategic dynamics of marginalization that have taken place over decades, post-war). That film, much-heralded across the documentary community, is not featured in the retrospective; however, Minervini’s Low Tide (2012), Stop the Pounding Heart (2013), and The Other Side (2015) are.

Low Tide is reminiscent of the (pseudo-documentary) work by Zhao as mentioned above. A no-frills docu-drama set against the big skies and rolling terrain of the Texan expanse, as one young boy plays parent and child against the lower class realities of the American South. Stop the Pounding Heart draws a similar narrative construct in its comprehensive and compelling portrait of life within Southern Christian upbringing. At the same time, the Cannes screened The Other Side reveals how easy it is to despise those inclined to be racist and aggressive regardless of the difficulties they face throughout their daily lives: addiction, poverty, homelessness, to name but a few. Each of the films that make up Roberto Minervini: Gonna Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In begs the fundamental modern American question: What does freedom even mean for those in the country’s lower class?

Roberto Minervini: Gonna Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In is now available on DAFilms.com

Steve Rickinson

"Came to Bucharest after living in Amsterdam & Brooklyn, among others, Steve is the industry editor for Modern Times Review documentary magazine.